Ability as dependence modality

Noûs Pub Date : 2025-03-12 DOI:10.1111/nous.12546
Paolo Santorio
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Abstract

Some modal expressions in language—for example, “can” and “able”—describe what is possible in light of someone's abilities. Ability modals are obviously related to other modalities in language, such as epistemic or deontic modality, but also give rise to anomalies that make them unique. This paper develops a general theory of ability modals that is broadly compatible with standard modal semantics, while predicting their peculiar behavior. The central idea is that ability modals include reference to a notion of dependence. At the level of truth conditions, “ is able to ” simply says that there is a circumstantially accessible world where . On top of this, a not‐at‐issue element requires that whether As depends, in part, on intrinsic features of . Differently from most analyses, this account divorces ability modals from a notion of agency.
作为依赖方式的能力
语言中的一些模态表达--例如 "能 "和 "能干"--根据某人的能力来描述什么是可能的。能力模态显然与语言中的其他模态(如认识模态或行为模态)有关,但也产生了一些反常现象,使它们变得独一无二。本文提出了能力模态的一般理论,该理论与标准模态语义大致兼容,同时预测了能力模态的特殊行为。其核心思想是能力模态包括对依赖性概念的参照。在真值条件的层面上,"能够 "只是说存在一个环境上可以到达的世界,在这个世界里,......是可以到达的。在此基础上,"非问题 "要素要求 "是否...... "部分地取决于"...... "的内在特征。 与大多数分析不同的是,这一论述将能力模态从代理概念中剥离出来。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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